Apple Music gaining freshly-licensed remixes thanks to new deal

Apple has signed a new deal to bring previously-unlicensed remixes and DJ mixes to Apple Music. The deal with Dubset Media Holdings will bring this music to a licensed streaming service for the first time, with tracks previously unavailable due to copyright issues.

But licensing remixes and DJ mixes, both based on original recordings, is incredibly complex. A single mix could have upward of 600 different rights holders. According to CEO Stephen White, a typical mix has 25 to 30 songs that require payments to 25 to 30 record labels and anywhere from two to ten publishers for each track. The licensing has been done in-house at Dubset. Thus far the company has agreements with over 14,000 labels and publishers.

Dubset uses MixBank, a proprietary technology, to analyze a mix or remix to identify existing songs inside the file, which allows them to pay both the original artist and the music label. If an artist's tracks clear the MixBank checks, they can select how they want them distributed.

The goal is apparently to get these mixes and remixes onto other streaming services, like Spotify and Google Play Music soon.